Saitek PK24 Eclipse III Wired Keyboard

by Mad Catz Inc

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 21.5 x 1.4 x 18 inches ; 1.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001EYU1SW
• Item model number: PK24
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (517 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #61 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Computer Accessories > Keyboards, Mice & Input Devices > Keyboards
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 15, 2008

Product Description

Style Name: Eclipse III

Manufacturer Description

The Saitek Eclipse III is a sleek backlit multimedia keyboard with touch-sensitive lighting and volume controls, and ergonomically placed shortcut keys. It features adjustable, multi color backlighting that highlights key controls, touch-sensitive control panel to change settings quickly and easily, two stage height adjustment and removable wrist rest increase comfort, pass through headphone and microphone audio ports for simple connectivity, time-saving Windows and Internet shortcut keys, USB plug and play, and laser-etched, soft touch, durable keys. Color and keyboard settings remain even after system reboot. System requirements are USB 2.0, Windows XP, XP64 and Windows Vista (all versions).

Product Description

The Saitek Eclipse III is a sleek backlit multimedia keyboard with touch-sensitive lighting and volume controls, and ergonomically placed shortcut keys. It features adjustable, multi color backlighting that highlights key controls, touch-sensitive control panel to change settings quickly and easily, two stage height adjustment and removable wrist rest increase comfort, pass through headphone and microphone audio ports for simple connectivity, time-saving Windows and Internet shortcut keys, USB plug and play, and laser-etched, soft touch, durable keys. Color and keyboard settings remain even after system reboot. System requirements are USB 2.0, Windows XP, XP64, Windows Vista (all versions) and Windows 7.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

139 of 147 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid Keyboard [UPDATE], September 11, 2006

By 

Wiggly (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Saitek Eclipse II Backlit Keyboard (PK02AU) (Personal Computers)

Highly recommended, and the price on Amazon is more reasonable than many brick and mortar stores too. This keyboard has wonderful keys that are neither too springy nor too soft, great for typing, and great for games too. It's a pretty sturdy piece of kit too, and requires no extra drivers.

So, of course its main 'selling factor' is that it offers three different illumination colors - blue, red, and purple - and these can be dimmed or brightened. Worth noting is that the areas around the keys and the keys themselves are lit, so perfect for a darker environment. I like the blue color best, but that's probably the darkest, but I still find it's illuminated adequately. The purple color really shines though, and there's side strips that light up your desktop too.

Very blingin'? Yes, for sure. Overkill? Perhaps, but I don't think this keyboard looks too tacky, in fact I've found it super useful to have a comfortable and durable keyboard for those late night gaming sessions.

---

Nov 2011 update: This keyboard is still serving me well after five years, but here's a couple of things to note. First off, the lettering on the most used keys (W,A,S,D) has started to wear off a bit. This took a long time to happen, with constant use, so that's not so bad. I contacted Saitek (who are now owned by MadKatz I think) and a guy wrote back to me to say he'd send spare keys if he ever came across any. That was a nice thought, but I never heard anything back after that email.

Also, I've noticed the lighting is quite a bit dimmer than it once was, making it harder to see in the dark. However, the keyboard still works really well after all this time and shows no sign of any mechanical wear/problems.

Still recommended thoroughly, and I'm almost tempted to buy another one new just like it.

128 of 136 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid keyboard, but a little pricey. Please read full review, February 20, 2009

By 

Jonathan Masukawa - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Saitek PK24 Eclipse III Wired Keyboard (Personal Computers)

Quick summary and a little about me to let you know where I'm coming from, in case people don't want to read the full review:

I'm a 20 year old college student (male), who plays games quite frequently, and is pretty particular with his keyboards. I loved my previous keyboard, the Eclipse I, which I had for about 2 years, and decided to buy this on a whim as a replacement (I spilled soda on my previous one).

APPEARANCE (cool factor): 9/10
-LEDs look great, laser etched keys are high quality

FUNCTIONALITY: 7/10
-a little on the long side, but I've got plenty of desk space
-hotkeys aren't especially useful
-touchpad with updated drivers works great and is very convenient
-headphone/microphone jacks are just pass-throughs from your sound card, meaning that if you want to use the feature, you'd have to plug your speakers into the keyboard (though you could buy extra splitters/audio cables)

QUALITY: 9/10
-Saitek still makes great keyboards. everything about this board looks like it was made with care.
-The keyboard feels like its going to last years

PRICE: 6/10
-Way expensive compared to the alternatives. Its a great keyboard, but only like $50-60 great. Not worth the $80 retail price, unless you've got the extra cash lying around. My advice is to wait for it to go on sale, if you're not in a hurry.

OVERALL(not an average): 8/10

PROS:
-Recently released drives from Saitek fixed all issues regarding the functionality and sensitivity of the touch pad: volume indicators work, media control works better, visual notification when touch buttons are being pressed (the buttons flash a few times when pressed), and no more accidentally activating touch keys (they're less sensitive but still functional)
-The quality of the keys and the feel of the keyboard is the same, if not better, than the Eclipse I (I wouldn't know how to compare it to the Eclipse II as I've never used one)

CONS:
-Yes the size is mislabeled as 18" instead of the actual 21" (but the original Eclipse I keyboard was 21" also)
-The $80 price point is a little steep; wait for the price to drop or for it to go on sale. I'd say a fair price would be in the $50-60 range.

IN DEPTH REVIEW:
First off, let me say that this keyboard isn't as bad as the other review(s) say. I've previously owned a Saitek Eclipse I keyboard, which this keyboard replaced after I accidentally spilled soda on my Eclipse I, and it's way better in construction, feel, and functionality.

The keyboard is in fact 21", not the 18" listed, but now that you know, if it isn't a problem, I'd recommend it. Sure, the Eclipse II was a compact 18", but the Saitek I never was, and it got phenomenal reviews despite its size.
[...]

The soft-touch keys feel great, and the two height adjustment is a very nice little feature to help you get the proper typing angle. With the updated drivers, the touch pad functions like it should, with a "lights off" button (turns all LEDs off until it is pressed again), 5 four-stage LEDs for the volume indicator to show current volume level, 4 media buttons (mute, pause/play, prev, next), and buttons to control the 4 brightness levels and 5 different colors (blue, purple, magenta, pink, red).

On the note of the LED colors, I don't find the touch pad being constantly blue, or the numpad/caps lock/scroll lock being green an annoyance. I think it actually looks pretty cool, since the LED colors provided contrast nicely with blue (especially red). Though if you find it an annoyance, I could understand.

To be honest, I don't use the hotkeys much, since I got pretty familiar with the windows equivalent of the hotkeys, though I'm sure someone would find them useful. To my knowledge there isn't a way to reprogram them, though I'm sure there's some software out there which would let you do that.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
In all, its a well made luxury keyboard with lots of good, convenient features. If you know your desk can't fit it comfortably, look for an alternative, like the more compact Eclipse II. The price point is high, so I'd only pick it up if it was on sale, or if you extra cash burning a hole in your pocket. If you're worried about how it feels, I'd see if a local store has it so you could try it out.

77 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best keyboard I've ever owned., November 17, 2006

By 

FlamingoNut "Tracey" (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saitek Eclipse II Backlit Keyboard (PK02AU) (Personal Computers)

I've been typing on various keyboards for 20 years now, and nothing is comparible to the old IBM mainframe keyboards, which had a great feel to them. I've hated every lightweight generic keyboard I've encountered, and this one stays put. On a whim, I purchased this keyboard from another site, at a great price. Well, my only regret is not purchasing another to use at work. The lighting is adequate if you're simply typing to the light of your monitor, like I frequently do at home. I wish it were a little brighter, but overall, I love this keyboard, and when the price is right, I'll get another. I prefer the purple, dislike the red, and can deal with the blue. When the computer is rebooted, it automatically reverts back to blue, which I don't consider an inconvenience whatsoever...

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